ICE deported 174 Daca recipients through most of last year, agency head says in letter | ICE (US Immigration and Customs Enforcement)
Between January and September 2025, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deported 174 people who had renewed their protection from deportation under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (Daca) program, a letter reviewed by the Guardian said.
The letter, written by ICE acting director Todd Lyons and sent to Illinois congressional representative Delia Ramirez, also confirmed that a total of 270 Daca recipients were arrested during the same time period, or the first nine months of Donald Trump’s second presidency.
It was previously unclear how many Daca recipients and applicants were targeted for detention and deportation in 2025 after former homeland security secretary Kristi Noem provided conflicting information to members of Congress in two separate letters.
The numbers Lyons cited amount to a clear rebuke from the Trump administration of a program launched in 2012 — during Barack Obama’s presidency — that allowed undocumented people brought to the United States as children to live and work in the country with certain protections from deportation. Daca has been the subject of ongoing contentious litigation, putting the fate of it and its buyers, known as “Dreamers”, at risk.
Data from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) says there are approximately 533,000 active Dreamers nationwide. Daca recipients must undergo review when re-applying to the program.
In a statement to the Guardian, Ramirez said the deportation of Daca recipients was evidence of a “white nationalist agenda” put forward by the Trump administration and White House adviser Stephen Miller.
“[The Department of Homeland Security, DHS] He refused to comply with the protections Daca provides to Dreamers, [and] “It is clear that Daca donors are at great risk,” the congressman said in his statement. “Trump and Miller’s instructions are clear: Our neighbors will continue to be terrorized, detentions will remain unsafe, and fascists will continue to profit from our pain.
“We must abolish ICE and abolish DHS.”
There were 73 additional Daca recipients arrested by ICE between late September and mid-November 2025, DHS said in a statement. This brings the number of Daca recipients arrested by ICE in the first 11 months of 2025 to at least 343.
“To be clear: Daca does not confer any legal status in this country,” a DHS spokesperson said. “Any illegal alien who is a Daca recipient may be arrested and deported for a variety of reasons, including having committed a crime.”
Most Daca recipients arrested have been charged with a crime, a DHS spokesperson said. The spokesman then attached a list of photos of undocumented people arrested by the agency.
According to the last letter from Lyons, dated April 7, a “script issue” had caused confusion among Noem’s previous letters.
That’s what Lyons said a letter Reports from Noem to Ramirez to other members of Congress from Jan. 12 included accurate numbers. The January letter also included a breakdown of the number of Daca recipients arrested by ICE’s areas of responsibility.
A separate Noem letter sent to Dick Durbin, a U.S. senator from Illinois, contained inaccurate data, according to Lyons.
Lyons will retire from ICE at the end of May.
The detention of Daca recipients comes as a result of the Trump administration’s determination to target people who immigrate to the United States without authorization, including people whose deportation was not a priority in previous presidencies.
The Trump administration has detained and deported refugees, people with temporary protected status, asylum seekers, crime victims and other immigrants with deportation protection, according to the Guardian analysis.
